In 1951, James Michener went to Korea to report on a little-known aspect of America's stalemated war: Navy aviators. His resulting novel, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, became perhaps the most widely read book ever written about aerial combat. Using Michener's notes, David Sears tracked down the actual pilots to hear their stories, and his book brims with riveting, action-packed accounts of combat over Korea ("fighting lots of low-tech, well-defended transportation links with high-tech, vulnerable aircraft," Booklist) and treacherous deck operations with early fighting jets.

"A valuable study of the culture and conduct of the naval air war over North Korea.... A fitting addition not only to the literature of the Korean War, but also to the literature emerging in [2011], the centennial year of U.S. naval aviation."